Legal & Regulatory News

The proposal comes a month after a Texas federal court ordered the agencies to vacate a separate fee increase, which had raised the administrative fee to $350. The judge ruled such an increase made the process “cost-prohibitive” to some parties, particularly providers.

The FTC’s suit follows recent comments by Lina Khan, the commission’s chairwoman, that her agency would investigate anticompetitive practices among companies acquired by private-equity firms.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., ranking minority member and the law’s author, called the implementation a “disappointment.”

The proposed guidelines, released in July, could limit consolidation in all industries, including healthcare.

"Below the radar" deals — less than $100 million in value — don't have to be reported to the FTC and have contributed to market consolidation.

Some members of Congress and health care experts are pushing for a system that would not pay hospital outpatient departments more for identical services that are provided in lower-priced physician offices.

More than 250 hospitals and health systems are urging Congress to halt the $8 billion reduction to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital funding, set to begin Oct. 1.

The fight over physician payments underscores how Medicare's strict budgeting rules can create unintended consequences

The CMS agency that tests value-based payment models hopes to announce two new models in behavioral health and maternal health later this year.

Corvallis, OR-based Samaritan Health Services cited slow "processing of requests and claims" that have made it difficult to provide appropriate care to UnitedHealth's members.